Some people oh so desperately want the AI revolution to be a nothingburger.

AI can't be an actual powerful, dangerous technology! Thus, any indication that an AI may attempt concerning things or may possess dangerous capabilities must be secretly a marketing effort!

Especially if an AI has actually succeeded at pulling off a concerning thing out in the wild. Can't have that happen in real life! Nuh-uh! Must be staged!

I think people just love to believe conspiracy theories. HN readers seem especially prone to that for some reason. Coupled with the general AI hatred here (which is somewhat more understandable), you end up with otherwise smart people believing lunatic ideas like OpenAI staging this for publicity.